Summer Research Internship

Achievements

• 2024

  FIU’s 15th Annual Summer Research Internship Program

  FIU’s Summer Research Internship (SRI), in partnership with the Florida Heart Research Foundation, proudly hosted its 15th annual program at Florida International University! Focused on Cardiovascular Health, this dynamic eight-week experience provided hands-on research opportunities across multiple disciplines, including Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Physics.

  Program Highlights:

  • 28 Interns from Diverse Backgrounds: High school, first-year, and transfer students conducted research at both the MMC and EC campuses.
  • Interdisciplinary Focus: Interns collaborated with FIU faculty and graduate student mentors to explore cardiovascular health using innovative research methods.
  • Interactive Learning: Weekly journal clubs, ethics case studies, and professional development workshops enhanced students' academic and career skills.
  • Engaging Activities: A mid-program campus scavenger hunt brought excitement and camaraderie, while a cardiovascular health awareness and fundraising event benefitted the Florida Heart Research Foundation.

  Final Symposium:
  The program culminated in a symposium on August 9th in RDB 1000. Interns showcased their research findings to an audience of peers, mentors, faculty, and family. FIU alumna Dr. Patricia Theard, MD/PhD, delivered an inspiring welcome address, setting the tone for an event filled with impressive student presentations and thought-provoking discussions.

  Special Recognition:
  Congratulations to all the interns for their hard work and achievements! A special shout-out to our symposium winners and their mentors. The top three presenters have been invited to deliver their talks at FIU’s upcoming McNair Conference and MARC Symposium this fall.

  We look forward to seeing the continued success of these talented students as they take their next steps in research and beyond!

  First Place: 
  Elizabeth Chinea 
  Mentor: Dr. Yuan Liu 
  Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry; College of Arts, Sciences and Education 
  Title: Mechanisms of RNA-Guided DNA Synthesis by DNA Polymerases 

  Second Place: (TIE)
  Houytieng (Triana) Ung  
  Mentor: Dr. Lihua Lou 
  Department: Mechanical and Materials Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing 
  Title: Utilizing Electrically Conductive Carbon Fiber Auxetic Metamaterials in 3D Printing for Cardiac Bioengineering Applications 

  Lazaro Martinez and Sophia Jimenez 
  Mentor: Dr. DeEtta Kay Mills 
  Department: Biological Sciences; College of Arts, Sciences and Education 
  Title: The Effects of Microplastics and Heavy Metals on Nematodes as a Model for Cardiovascular Physiology 

  Third Place: (TIE)
  Charlize Rodriguez 
  Mentor: Dr. Manuel Barbieri 
  Department: Biological Sciences; College of Arts, Sciences and Education 
  Title: GCMS Analysis of Ethyl Acetate Extracts of Annona Montana Leaves: Study on The Antimicrobial Properties  

  Gaurav Chaudhuri 
  Mentor: Dr. Manuel Barbieri 
  Department: Biological Sciences; College of Arts, Sciences and Education 
  Title: GCMS Analysis of Hexane extracts of Annona Montana Leaves: Study on The Anti-Proliferative Properties 

  Audience Choice Award: 
  Amy Felipe, Anthony Corcuera, and Camila Moreno 
  Mentor: Dr. Joshua Hutcheson 
  Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing 
  Title: Mechanisms of Calcification in the Cardiac Vasculature and Valve

• 2023

  FIU’s Summer Research Internship (SRI) partnered with the Florida Heart Research Foundation ( https://www.floridaheart.org/ ) to offer an all-new Cardiovascular Summer Research Internship Program to the MMC and EC campuses!  Twenty-six high school, first-year, and transfer students engaged in hands-on research in the Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Physics Departments. Interns participated in weekly journal clubs, ethics case studies, and professional development workshops. A mid-program campus scavenger hunt was a highlight, and faculty career talks provided insight into various career pathways in science. 

  The 26 interns worked with their FIU faculty and graduate student mentors to learn about interdisciplinary approaches to cardiovascular research and developed research questions to focus on over the eight-week program. FIU undergraduates and alumni provided coaching sessions where students practiced their oral presentations and science communication skills. The symposium was held on Friday, August 11th, in GL 100. 

  Dr. Barbra Roller from the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine provided inspiring and encouraging welcome remarks to the interns, lab mates, faculty, staff, and family members in the audience. As always, the judges and audience members were impressed with the student presentations and asked questions about their research.  

  Congratulations to all the interns! A special congratulations to our symposium winners: 

  Anthony Camaraza Diaz, Stephania Barroso, and Aditya Kapadia 
  Mentor: Dr. Joshua Hutcheson 
  Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing 
  Title: Investigating the Role of Caveolin 1 in Vascular Calcification 

  Christopher Marimon 
  Mentor: Dr. Yuan Liu 
  Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry; College of Arts, Sciences and Education  
  Title: DNA repair gene knockout in human cells using CRISPR/Cas9 

  Emily Brown 
  Mentor: Dr. Prem Chapagain 
  Department: Physics; College of Arts, Sciences and Education 
  Title: Computational Modeling and Simulation of microRNA-138 and SIRT1 Interactions: Applications in Cardiovascular Disease 

• 2022

  After two years in a virtual format, the SRI was back on campus at MMC and EC!  This year, we incorporated successful elements from the virtual summer programs and combined hands-on research with in-class journal clubs, case studies, and professional development workshops. A mid-program campus scavenger hunt was a highlight, and faculty career talks provided insight into various career pathways in science.

  Twenty-four students worked with FIU faculty and graduate student mentors to learn about many science disciplines and developed research questions to focus on over the eight-week program. FIU undergraduates and alumni provided coaching sessions where students practiced their presentations, and the symposium was held on Friday, August 12^th, in GL 100.

  Anthony Teague from the Office of Engagement provided welcoming remarks and words of encouragement to the interns. Judges and audience members were impressed with the student presentations and asked questions about their research. The top presentations were awarded. Congratulations to all the interns!

  First Place: 
  Ashna Paudel 
  Mentor: Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska  
  Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry; College of Arts, Sciences, and Education 
  Title: Mechanisms of Hexa-Coordinate Heme Proteins Binding to Diatomic Ligands 

  Second Place: 
  Tatiana Ramos 
  Mentor: Dr. Francisco Alberto Fernandez Lima 
  Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry; College of Arts, Sciences, and Education 
  Title:  Analytical approach in Aedes aegypti female mosquito analysis 

  Third Place: 
  Emily J. Beaulaurier 
  Mentor: Dr. Jeremy Chambers 
  Department: Environmental Health Sciences; Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work
  Title: The effect of Pz-1 on organophosphate inhibited Acetylcholinesterase 

  Audience Choice Award:
  Zinara M. Lopez  
  Mentor: Dr. Aaron Mattfeld 
  Department: Psychology; College of Arts, Sciences and Education  
  Title: Impact of the Number of Foils on Memory Retrieval Performance

• 2021

  Year twelve of the SRI continued the virtual model and provided a daily online curriculum, including faculty seminars, case study groups, journal clubs, research teams, and professional development workshops.

  This summer, the ten research teams chose topics relating to biomedical engineering, genetics, neuroscience, and more! Undergraduate Learning Assistants guided their teams to develop their hypothesis, gather and analyze their data and present their findings at the virtual symposium on Friday, August 13. The last week of the program provided an opportunity to meet on campus and tour the mass spectrometry facility and labs. Students participated in a campus-wide scavenger hunt and enjoyed seeing each other in person!

  Dr. Robert Drummond provided the keynote address and spoke about finding your passion in science. The student research teams did an excellent job, and judges asked questions, provided feedback, and awarded the top group presentations. Congratulations to all the interns on their excellent talks!

  1^st Place: Camila Cruz, Alexis Hartog, Princess Rojas,

  2^nd Place: Emily Franco, Nicole Giordano, Ethan Yu,

  Audience Choice Award:Vasundara Govindarajan, Emely Marquez, Matthew Rojas, Isabella Velez, Betania Arce, Maanas Kotha, Grace Whitter, Nicole Mederos

• 2020

  The 11^th year of the SRI was virtual! Thanks to the dedication of FIU faculty, staff, students, and alumni, we were able to continue the SRI despite the COVID-19 pandemic. We provided a daily online curriculum, including faculty seminars, case study groups, journal clubs, research teams, and professional development workshops.

  Eight research teams were led by excellent Graduate Learning Assistants from across the United States to study elements of COVID- 19 relating to psychology, biomedical engineering, genetics, public health, and more!

  On Friday, August 7, our interns presented their research projects at the virtual symposium. Judges asked questions, provided feedback, and awarded the top group presentations. Congratulations to everyone for completing the virtual program in the new format! We learned as much as you did!

  1^st Place: Isabella Pinto, Marianna Uzcategui, Melanie Gonzalez, Sophia Calero,

  2^nd Place: Erika Galban, Kaylah Townsend, Kelly Alvarez, Melissa Marrero

  Audience Choice Award: Erika Galban, Kaylah Townsend, Kelly Alvarez, Melissa Marrero

• 2019

  We have successfully completed our 10^th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 31 high school participants who all gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 9^th, 2019.

  We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters and their mentors:

  1^st Place Oral Presentation:
  Rolando Casas
  Mentor: Dr. DeEtta K. Mills
  Department: Biological Sciences; International Forensic Research Institute, College of Arts, Sciences, and Education
  Title: Collection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) For Early Plant Disease Detection: A Comparison Between Passive and Dynamic Sampling Techniques 

  2^nd Place Oral Presentation:
  Elizavetta Stetsenko
  Mentor: Dr. DeEtta K. Mills
  Department: Biological Sciences, International Forensic Research Institute, College: Arts, Science, and Education
  Title: Exploration of Various DNA Polymerases for Enhanced PCR Amplification 

  3^rd Place Oral Presentation:
  Hannah Aziz
  Mentor: Dr. Rene Price 
  Department: Earth and Environment; College of Arts, Science, and Education 
  Title: Chemistry of Surface Water and Groundwater in Dade-County

  These three interns will be invited back to FIU to present their research at the MARC U*STAR & QBIC Mini-symposium in October.

  We would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. Matthew DeGennaro, Dr. Jamie Theobald and Dr. DeEtta Mills (Biological Sciences), Dr. Yuan Liu, Dr. Konstantin Bukhryakov, Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska and Dr. Joong Ho Moon (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Anthony Dick and Dr. Lorraine Bahrick (Psychology), Dr. Angela Laird (Physics), and Dr. Rene Price and Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment).   From the College of Engineering and Computing:  Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman, Dr. Anuradha Godavarty, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Joshua Hutcheson, and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering).

  We would also like to thank the FIU Departments, Faculty, Staff, and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer. It was wonderful to host Ms. Indira Case, American Heart Association's Community Impact Director of Multicultural Initiatives, and Mr. Alex Alamzan, Miami Heart Walk Chair, at our event.

  
  Thanks to our judges, moderators, and the many volunteers who made this event spectacular!

• 2018

  We have successfully completed our 9th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 22 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute & M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead and 2 FIU MASS Experience Fellows, who all gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 10th, 2018.

  We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters and their mentors:

  1st Place Oral Presentation:

  Mariaguadalupe Vilchez  
  Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Rehage
  Department: Earth and Environment; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
  Title: Examining the Potential Decline of Jack Crevalle in Florida

  2nd Place Oral Presentation:
  Shaileen Barberena 
  Mentor: Dr. Eliza Nelson
  Department: Psychology; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
  Title: The Relation Between Gross and Fine Motor Skills and Language Outcomes

  3rd Place Oral Presentation: 
  Christian Fernandez 
  Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Rehage
  Department: Earth and Environment; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
  Title: Recruitment Behavior of Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) in Fishing, Catch-Release, and Non-Fishing Areas

  These 3 interns will be invited back to FIU to present their research at the MARC U*STAR & QBIC Mini-symposium in October.

  We would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. Matthew DeGennaro, and Dr. DeEtta Mills (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, and Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Eliza Nelson and Dr. Lorraine Bahrick (Psychology), and Dr. Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment).  From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Kalai Mathee (Human and Molecular Genetics) and Dr. Marisela Agudelo (Immunology). From the College of Engineering and Computing:  Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Joshua Hutcheson, Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), and Dr. Alexander Perez-Pons (Computing and Information Sciences). From the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Deodutta Roy (Environmental and Occupational Health) and Dr. Consuelo Beck Sague (Health Promotion and Disease Prevention).

  We would also like to thank the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff, and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer. It was wonderful to host Ms. Indira Case, American Heart Association's Director of Multicultural Initiatives, at this event.

• 2017

  We have successfully completed our 8th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 30 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute & M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead and 1 Miami Dade College participant, who all gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 11th, 2017.

  We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters and their mentors:

  1st Place Oral Presentation:

  Jack Polk (MAST)

  Mentor: Dr. Deng Pan

  Department: Computing and Information Sciences; College of Engineering and Computing

  Title: Optimal Service Deployment for Network Function Virtualization

  2nd Place Oral Presentation:

  Desiree Pico (TERRA)

  Mentor: Dr. Jeremy W. Chambers

  Department: Environmental and Occupational Health; Robert Stempel College of Public Health

  Title: Mitofusin 2 expression in the ventral midbrain of mice with mitochondrial dysfunction

  3rd Place Oral Presentation:

  Fernando Yzquierdo (TERRA)

  Mentor: Dr. Robert Lickliter

  Department: Psychology; College of Arts, Sciences and Education

  Title: Conspecific Recognition in Neonatal Bobwhite Quail Chicks (Colinus Virginianus)

  These 3 interns will be invited back to FIU to present their research at the MARC U*STAR & NIGMS RISE Mini-symposium in October, and the 1st place presenter will be invited to FIU”s Biomedical & Comparative Immunology Symposium in March.

  We would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. M. Alejandro Barbieri, Dr. Laura Serbus, Dr. DeEtta Mills, and Dr. Sian Evans (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Yuan Liu, Dr. Kevin O’Shea, and Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Nadja Schreiber-Compo, Dr. Lorraine Bahrick, and Dr. Robert Lickliter (Psychology), Dr. Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment).  From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Kalai Mathee (Human and Molecular Genetics). From the College of Engineering and Computing:  Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Joshua Hutcheson, and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Dr. Deng Pan (Computing and Information Sciences) and Dr. Seung Jae Lee (Civil and Environmental Engineering. From the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Jeremy Chambers (Environmental and Occupational Health) and Dr. Benjamin C. Amick III (Health Policy and Management).

  Lastly, we would like to thank all the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff, and Community especially The American Heart Association who spoke at our symposium.

• 2016

  We have successfully completed our 7th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 29 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead who gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 12th, 2016.

  We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presentations:

   1st Place Oral Presentation:

  Ashlee Sealy   
  Mentor: Dr. Ranu Jung
  Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing
  Title: Lower Misaligned Prosthetic Simulator

   2nd Place Oral Presentation:

  Uzair Farid and Lingwei “William” Kong
  Mentor: Dr. Chunlei Wang
  Department: Mechanical and Materials Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing
  Title: Analysis of Carbon Surface Characteristics and Renewable Materials in the Manufacture of Environmentally Friendly Batteries

   3rd Place Oral Presentation:

  Renzo Cavero
  Mentor: Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh
  Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry; College of Arts, Sciences and Education
  Title: Expressing recombinant Human Topoisomerase 3β in Escherichia coli

   Additionally, we would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. M. Alejandro Barbieri and Dr. Sian Evans (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh and Dr. Jaroslava Miksovska (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Nadja Schreiber-Compo and Dr. Robert Lickliter (Psychology), Dr. Jennifer Rehage (Earth & Environment).  From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Marisela Agudelo and Dr. Nazira El-Hage (Immunology). From the College of Engineering and Computing:  Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Anuradha Godavarty, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy, Dr. Jorge Riera Diaz, and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Dr. Ismail Guvenc (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Dr. Chunlei Wang (Mechanical and Materials Engineering). From the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Benjamin C. Amick III, Dr. Elena Bastida, and Dr. Consuelo Beck-Sague.

  Lastly, we would like to thank the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff, and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer.

• 2015

  We have successfully completed our 6th annual FIU Summer Research Internship Program! Congratulations to our 31 high school participants from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and M.A.S.T. Medical @ Homestead who gave outstanding presentations of their research at the Mini-Symposium on Friday, August 7th.

  We would like to take this opportunity to recognize our top three presenters:

   

  1st Place Presentation:

  Catarina Vale

  Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ranu Jung

  Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing

  Presentation Title: Influence of stimulation profile on ability to obtain desired respiratory volume during diaphragmatic pacing

   

  2nd Place Presentation:

  Andrea Rondon

  Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aaron Mattfeld

  Department: Psychology; College of Arts and Sciences

  Presentation Title: Motivated learning: Do losses motivate more than gains?

   

  3rd Place Presentation:

  Joaquin Morales

  (Partnered Presentation with Alejandro Perez)

  Faculty Mentor: Dr. Anthony McGoron

  Department: Biomedical Engineering; College of Engineering and Computing

  Presentation Title: Synthesis of Chitosan Microspheres for Drug Delivery with Electrical Field Assisted Method

  Additionally, we would like to thank all the mentors who opened their labs to the interns and provided them with guidance and support throughout this summer. From the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. DeEtta Mills, Dr. Laura Serbus, Dr. Phillip Stoddard and Dr. M. Alejandro Barbieri, (Biological Sciences), Dr. Francisco Fernandez-Lima, Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse- Dinh and Dr. John Landrum (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Dr. Shannon Pruden, Dr. Lorraine Bahrick, Dr. Eliza Nelson, Dr. Aaron Mattfeld, Dr. Nadja Schreiber-Compo and Dr. Erica Musser (Psychology), Dr. Jennifer Rehage and Dr. Krish Jayachandran (Earth & Environment).  From the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers (Cellular Biology and Pharmacology) and Dr. Marisela Agudelo (Immunology). From the College of Engineering and Computing:  Dr. Ranu Jung, Dr. Jessica Ramella, Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy and Dr. Anthony McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Dr. Alexander Perez-Pons (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Dr. Seung Jae Lee (Civil Engineering).

  Lastly, we would like to thank the FIU Departments, Programs, Faculty, Staff, and Community Sponsors who supported the SRI this summer.

• 2014

  The Summer Research Internship (SRI) program completed its 5th year in 2014! This summer we hosted 28 high school students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and MAST Medical @ Homestead. Interns completed 1 in-class and 5 online lab safety courses, volunteered a minimum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, and attended weekly professional development workshops including Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Research, Bioethics & Research Misconduct, and Library and Data Bases Resources. The summer interns were placed in scientific research laboratories at the Modesto Maidique and Engineering Center Campuses at FIU.

  This summer students were placed with mentors in 8 departments of 3 Colleges at FIU. They include from the College of Arts and Sciences: Drs. Eric Von Wettberg, Sian Evans, M. Alejandro Barbieri -Biological Sciences; Drs. Francisco Fernandez-Lima and Jaroslava Miksovska -Chemistry & Biochemistry; Drs. Shannon Pruden, Lindsay Malloy, Anthony Dick, and Erica Musser –Psychology; from the College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers -Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Drs. Madhavan Nair, Marisela Agudelo and Vidya Sagar -Immunology; from the College of Engineering and Computing:  Drs. Ranu Jung, Sharan Ramaswamy and Anthony McGoron -Biomedical Engineering and Dr. Amir Mirmiran –Civil Engineering and Dr. Ismail Guvenc –Electrical Engineering. A total of 41 faculty mentors have participated in the SRI and 108 students have participated in the SRI program since 2010.
  
  The interns culminated the program by submitting abstracts and giving oral presentations of their research project at the FIU SRI Mini-Symposium on August 8th, 2014. Students gave 10-minute oral presentations and answered questions from the audience of FIU faculty, students and staff, Miami-Dade County Public School Magnet Academy Leaders and students’ family members & friends. Refreshments were sponsored by FIU’s Office of Engagement and QBIC Program. Generous donations were received from Subway, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, ChicBerry Frozen Yogurt and Walgreens.
  
  Judges awarded the top 3 student presenters with Barnes and Noble gift cards (sponsored by the Honors College), as well as invited them to present their summer research at FIU’s Annual MARC U*STAR & MBRS RISE Mini-Symposium in the fall. The 1st Place winner also received the book At the Bench by Kathy Barker and was invited to present her research at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium in March 2015.

• 2013

  The Faculty and Student Research Training & Access Office (FSRTA) completed its 4th annual Summer Research Internship (SRI). This summer we hosted 29 high school students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and MAST Medical @ Homestead. Interns completed 1 in-class and 5 online lab safety courses, volunteered a minimum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, attended weekly professional development workshops including Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Research, Bioethics & Research Misconduct, and Library and Data Bases Resources. The summer students were placed in scientific research laboratories at the Modesto Maidique and Engineering Center Campuses at FIU.

  This summer students were placed with mentors in 8 departments of 4 Colleges at FIU. They include
  from the College of Arts and Sciences: Dr. Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh - Chemistry & Biochemistry, Drs. DeEtta Mills and Phillip Stoddard - Biological Sciences, Drs. Eliza Nelson, Shannon Pruden, Lorraine Bahrick, Lindsay Malloy, Anthony Dick, and Nadja Schreiber Compo – Psychology, Drs. Jennifer Rehage and Krish Jayachandran – Earth & Environment; from the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Mehmet Dorak -Epidemiology; from the College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers -Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Drs. Madhavan Nair and Samikkannu Thangavel -Immunology; from the College of Engineering and Computing:  Drs. Ranu Jung, Sharan Ramaswamy and Amy Starosciak -Biomedical Engineering and Drs. Shekhar Bhansali and Herman Watson - Electrical & Computer Engineering. A total of 35 faculty mentors have participated in the SRI since 2010.
  
  The interns culminated the program by submitting abstracts and giving oral presentations of their research project at the FIU SRI Mini-Symposium on August 9th, 2013. Students gave 10-minute oral presentations and answered questions from the audience of FIU faculty, students and staff, Miami-Dade County Public School Magnet Academy Leaders and students’ family members & friends.
  
  Judges awarded the top 3 student presenters with Barnes and Noble gift cards, as well as invited them to present their summer research at FIU’s Annual MARC U*STAR & MBRS RISE Mini-Symposium in the fall. The 1st Place winner also received the book At the Bench by Kathy Barker and was invited to present his research at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium in February 2014.
  
  Continuous program evaluation including student and faculty feedback has played a key role in the success of this program. Follow up with our first interns who have now matriculated into colleges and universities across North America is currently underway! Preliminary data so far has revealed that 11 of the 42 college eligible participants are attending FIU. Of those who are freshmen at FIU, 5 are continuing their research with their summer research mentors. Three papers have been published by 2 interns, and 1 patent application was submitted. All students are pursuing degrees in STEM fields. Eighty students have participated in the SRI program since 2010, and continuous follow up is needed to track the outcomes of those currently in college and the junior & senior high school participants who will be entering college in the years ahead.

  Several former SRI participants shared the following comments about their summer research experience:

  • “The Summer Research Internship was an enlightening experience with valuable exposure to a research facility. Because I demonstrated interest in performing research by participating in this program, several top twenty schools offered me full tuition scholarships with research stipends (Emory University, Vanderbilt University), and others offered me research scholarships (Columbia University).” 
  • “I am currently attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and planning on majoring in biomedical engineering with a pre-med concentration. My long term goals are to get an MD/Ph.D. degree. Participating in the Summer Research Internship introduced me to a whole new side of science which ultimately fueled my passion for research. After the internship, I realized that I really enjoyed conducting research and that I would like to continue doing research throughout my career”.
  • “I think my internship prepared me to be a lot more advanced in terms of my ability to become a lab assistant much sooner than other students would be able to without any prior experience. I also find myself ahead in my Intro to Linguistics class because of all the linguistics terminology I learned in the PLSD lab [Project on Language and Spatial Development Lab at FIU].”
  • “Thanks to this program, I have gotten to really enjoy tinkering with and utilizing computers for a variety of tasks. Whether it be for building a website, making an iOS app, repairing a computer, or even processing a sequence of DNA, I can trace my interests from my time at FIU when I was given responsibility in Dr. [name withheld] lab. Everyone in the lab was helpful and contributed to my development. The three years I spent there were tremendous for me. Not only do I currently have a part time job with a professional software company, I also have the opportunity to conduct research at UBC for a higher pay grade than I normally could get thanks to the three years and two published papers I partook in. I sincerely hope this program can continue to be successful.”
  • “The Summer Research Internship Program was the most valuable experience that I could have ever had throughout high school.  Having been able to have been a part of such a unique program, I feel more prepared for the trials that are to come throughout the next few years of college, as well as life in the workplace.  I have a younger brother who is just starting high school and I believe that it would benefit him, as well as any other high schooler, to have an appreciation for the lab setting and to be able to partake in what I was able to experience for multiple summers.”
• 2012

  The Faculty and Student Research Training & Access Office (FSRTA) completed its 3rd annual Summer Research Internship (SRI). This summer we hosted 36 high school students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute and MAST Medical @ Homestead. Interns completed 1 in‐class and 5 online lab safety courses, volunteered a minimum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, attended weekly professional development workshops including Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Research, Bioethics &
  Research Misconduct, and Library and Data Bases Resources. The students were placed in scientific research laboratories at the Modesto Maidique and Engineering Center Campuses at FIU. This summer we had students placed with mentors in 13 departments of 4 Colleges at FIU. They include from the College of Arts and Sciences: Drs. Lidia Kos, Manuel Barbieri and Philip Stoddard ‐Biological Sciences, Drs. Jaroslava Miksovska and Joong‐Ho Moon ‐Chemistry & Biochemistry, Dr. Jin He ‐Physics, Drs. Jennifer Rehage and Krish Jayachandran ‐Earth & Environment, Drs. Robert Lickliter, Lorraine Bahrick, Lindsay Malloy, Shannon Pruden and Asia Eaton ‐Psychology; from the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work: Dr. Mehmet Dorak ‐Environmental & Occupational Health; from the College of Medicine: Dr. Jeremy Chambers ‐Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Drs. Rene Herrera and Helen Tempest ‐Human and Molecular Genetics, Drs. Madhavan Nair and Samikkannu Thangavel ‐ Immunology; from the College of Engineering and Computing: Dr. Chunlei Wang ‐Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Drs. Anthony McGoron, Sharan Ramaswamy, Ranu Jung and Amy Starosciak ‐ Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Deng Pen ‐School of Computing and Information Science and Dr. Shekhar Bhansali ‐Electrical & Computer Engineering.

  The interns finished the program by submitting abstracts and giving oral presentations of their research project at the FIU SRI Mini‐Symposium on August 10th in the MARC Pavilion. Dr. Andres Gil, FIU’s Vice President for Research gave the welcoming remarks at the symposium. Students gave 10 minute PowerPoint presentations and answered questions from the audience of FIU faculty, students and staff, Miami‐Dade County Public School Magnet Academy Leaders and students’ family members. Judges awarded the top 3 student presenters with Barnes and Nobles gift cards, as well as invited them to present their research at FIU’s MBRS RISE & MARC U*STAR Mini‐Symposium in the fall. The 1st Place winner also received the book At the Bench by Kathy Barker and was invited to present his research at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium in March 2013.

• 2011

  This summer marked the second annual FIU TERRA Summer Research Internship Program. Participation nearly doubled from 15 interns in 2010, to 28 interns completing the program this year. Students from TERRA Environmental Research Institute included 12 from the Robotics Academy, 13 from the Biomedical Academy and 3 from the Environmental Academy. The cohort included 13 females, 15 males, and 75% of the participants belong to underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences. 

  Students were assisted by program staff to schedule interviews with potential mentors in STEM departments. In 2011, 16 mentors from 9 departments in 5 colleges participated. This was an increase from 11 mentors in 2010. They include Drs. Bahrick (Psychology), Barbieri (Biology), Dorak (Environmental and Occupational Health), Herrera (Biology), Jayachandran (Earth and Environment), Kos (Biology), Lickliter (Psychology), McGoron (Biomedical Engineering), Mills (Biology), Moon (Chemistry/Biochemistry), Munroe (Mechanical and Materials Engineering), Nair (Immunology), Ramaswamy (Biomedical Engineering), Rehage (Earth and Environment), C. Wang (Mechanical  and Materials Engineering) and Wnuk (Chemistry/Biochemistry).

  Prior to their internship, students complete 5 online safety courses, as well as all human resources volunteer paperwork. On orientation day, they are provided with hourly log sheets, lab composition books, campus maps, food vendor information, inter-campus bus schedules, FIU One Card services, and volunteer parking permit forms. Dr. Charles Bigger provides an orientation to lab safety, program expectations and FIU’s Code of Student Conduct.

  Along with engaging in cutting edge biomedical research, students participate in weekly professional development workshops, weekly intern meetings, library skills workshop and the Responsible Conduct in Research 2-day seminar. Interns are required to submit an abstract of their research and give a PowerPoint presentation of their project at the end of program symposium. Awards are given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place presenters, and those winners are invited back to present at FIU’s MBRS RISE & MARC U*STAR Student Mini-Symposium. The 1st place winner is also invited to present at FIU’s Biomedical and Comparative Immunology Symposium. 

  FIU TERRA Summer Research Internship participants have gone on to place in the county, regional, state, national and international Science & Engineering Fairs. One participant was 1 of 60 finalists out of 75,000 applicants in the Google Global Science Fair. Since their internships, about half of our interns competed in the MIT InvenTeam competition this year and 2 students were awarded grants to organize scientific clubs at TERRA.

  Four summer interns have continued their research projects into the academic year. Two students are working towards papers and 1 student attended a scientific conference with their lab. Participant feedback indicates that 21 students intend on returning next summer, and mentor feedback showed that all participating mentors are willing to host a TERRA student(s) in their lab again. The Earth and Environment Department has notified our program that they would like to expand their involvement and will take additional students next summer.  

• 2010 News Release

  Florida International University’s Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS) is excited to announce its partnership with TERRA Environmental Research Institute, Principal Ms. Caridad Montano (Florida’s first Green and LEED certified high school) to establish a competitive high school summer internship program. Dr. Julie Sierra-Montes, TERRA’s science chair and former FIU MBRS Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) fellow, has recommended 23 bright and motivated students to intern in biomedical research laboratories on Modesto A. Maidique campus satisfying the students’ summer community service hours.

  Students from TERRA’s Academies of Environmental Research & Field Studies, Biomedical Research, and Robotics & Engineering Technology were invited to FIU Friday, April 30, 2010 to learn about the RISE, QBIC and McNair Scholars Programs as well as listen to presentations given by faculty representing Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Psychology, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing, Environmental Studies and the Departments of Molecular Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Human and Molecular Genetics from The College of Medicine, describing their research programs.

  Dr. Charles H. Bigger, MBRS Programs Director, addressed the students advising them of scientific research careers and interviewing skills. Many students had the opportunity to participate in on-site interviews with potential mentors, and 7 students have been selected to intern in the laboratories of Drs. Anthony McGoron, DeEtta Mills, Manuel Barbieri, Joong-Ho Moon and Rene Herrera, thus far. There has been great support and interest in this program from FIU’s science faculty and several interviews are scheduled with the remaining students in the coming weeks.

  The eight-week internship will expose high school students to principles of research, lab procedures and safety, while being mentored by FIU’s top science researchers.  The students will culminate their internship with a presentation of their learning experience at the end of the summer semester by way of a mini-symposium.